INTEC must define itself

Few in Spokane would know what the Inland Northwest Technology Education Center is. Many more would recognize the organization by its acronym, INTEC.

And INTEC, four years after its founding, is a lot less about technology education than it is about technology and education. A little bit about muddle, too.

INTEC was the community’s response to an expected increase in demand for high-tech and bio-medical workers from new businesses. That was shortly before the 9/11 attacks, and the economic shock they caused. Not only did the new jobs not materialize, existing jobs evaporated. Still, INTEC partnered with the Community Colleges of Spokane, Hollister-Stier and other public and private groups to continue its education initiatives, most recently as a participant in efforts to eliminate some of the bottlenecks in medical science instruction.

But INTEC, which has a budget of about $600,000, has made more noise as a sponsor of investor forums, entrepreneur events and studies of the potential to create an innovative economy in Spokane. Easily its most notable achievement was the founding of Connect Northwest, which has created an informal network of venture capitalists, mentors, and other service providers already helping young companies grow.

Nancy Janzen says Springboard, one of Connect’s programs, was critical to the success of a new hospital-management product introduced earlier this year by Maplewood Software. Anyone else, she says, would have demanded a piece of Maplewood in return for the custom-designed assistance INTEC provided. INTEC also put together a three-person advisory board of Spokane-area executives that has been an invaluable resource.

Janzen, who says she supports all economic development efforts, co-owns Maplewood.

Acknowledging concerns about INTEC activities in areas not part of its original mission, Janzen says “I think they found an incredible niche.

“If they’ve found something the community needs, they should be allowed to do their job.”

INTEC co-founder Kim Pearman-Gilman says new organizations, public or private, always struggle to find their place. They also tend to be disruptive, which is amplified by their role in fostering breakthrough technologies.

Pearman-Gilman also rejects concerns INTEC takes money other economic development groups might use. In fact, she says, much of the money has come in the form of federal and state grants, and from other sources that Spokane would not otherwise tap.

No one has complained the money is misused, she adds. “They know what they’re buying.”

But Pearman-Gilman concedes INTEC has invaded so many spaces that its own identity has suffered. And it has not done a very good job telling its story, she says. “It’s almost a case of doing too much.”

Another co-founder and now chairman, John Stone, says traditional economic development organizations like the Spokane Area Economic Development Council, Spokane Regional Chamber of Commerce and other groups were serving existing constituencies, not emerging industries.

“That wasn’t the model that was going to change the scene dramatically,” he says.

Connect Northwest would not have happened without INTEC, Stone says.

Jon Eliassen, president of the Spokane Area Economic Development Council, says that INTEC, in searching for a role, has engaged in a kind of “mission creep” that has taken it away from workforce training.

While praising its work creating Connect Northwest and its initiatives in training health-care workers, Eliassen says those efforts might be better aligned with the University District, and the Community Colleges of Spokane.

Lewis Rumpler, INTEC’s executive director, has been a voluble, tireless advocate for the five-person group and its role in the community, but concedes many wonder how it got to where it is today from where it was at conception. Eventually, he says, “We’ll get to the point where the community understands what we’re doing.”

“It’s not easy being a change agent,” Rumpler adds, allowing that INTEC may have been a rough partner to deal with sometimes. Maturity has smoothed some of the edges, he says.

Smoothed, or maybe dimmed. Looking at a list of INTEC achievements, it’s sometimes easier to identify a theme than it is the outcome. Educational endeavors in general have that problem.

Spokane County Commissioner Kate McCaslin, an INTEC champion, wants to pull together an economic summit to reassess the community’s economic development efforts. Should it come about, that might be as good an opportunity as any to define INTEC’s long-term role.

“They’ve been asked to fill a lot of niches,” she says.

INTEC supporters take pride in the organization’s responsiveness, but sometimes the best answer is “no.”